Southerland targets executive authority over seas

Commercial fisherman listen as U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Panama City, speaks about the Marine Access and State Transparency (MAST) Act at the St. Andrews Marina on Monday. The MAST Act would halt the president’s ability to shut down up to 780,000 square miles of ocean to fishing and energy exploration, or any future plans to do so elsewhere, without congressional authorization or the approval of neighboring states.

Andrew Wardlow | The News Herald

By CHRIS OLWELL | The News Herald

Published: Monday, July 7, 2014 at 07:46 PM.

PANAMA CITY
— Congressman Steve Southerland hosted local civic leaders at a press conference Monday to tout new legislation that would limit the federal government’s authority to close off vast sections of the sea to fishing.

Southerland, R-Panama City, introduced the Marine Access and State Transparency (MAST) Act (H.R. 4988), an amendment to the Antiquities Act of 1906, in response to President Barack Obama’s announcement last month that he plans to close a 780,000-square-mile area of the Pacific Ocean.

“No one should have that power, and what this does, this prevents the president from acting in such a way,” Southerland said.

The Antiquities Act in part grants the president authority to designate marine monuments, a type of marine sanctuary. Obama’s plan would greatly expand a monument area President George W. Bush originally designated. The MAST Act would curtail that authority by requiring congressional approval as well as the approval of states near the monument area.

“The MAST Act, we believe, is an important measure to protect the citizens from yet another act of runaway government,” said Recreational Fishing Alliance Board Member Pam Anderson, who runs Capt. Anderson’s
Marina
with her family.

Southerland’s proposal also would prohibit the secretaries of commerce and the interior from restricting public use of a designated monument until there has been a review period allowing for public input and congressional approval.

PANAMA CITY — Congressman Steve Southerland hosted local civic leaders at a press conference Monday to tout new legislation that would limit the federal government’s authority to close off vast sections of the sea to fishing.

Southerland, R-Panama City, introduced the Marine Access and State Transparency (MAST) Act (H.R. 4988), an amendment to the Antiquities Act of 1906, in response to President Barack Obama’s announcement last month that he plans to close a 780,000-square-mile area of the Pacific Ocean.

“No one should have that power, and what this does, this prevents the president from acting in such a way,” Southerland said.

The Antiquities Act in part grants the president authority to designate marine monuments, a type of marine sanctuary. Obama’s plan would greatly expand a monument area President George W. Bush originally designated. The MAST Act would curtail that authority by requiring congressional approval as well as the approval of states near the monument area.

“The MAST Act, we believe, is an important measure to protect the citizens from yet another act of runaway government,” said Recreational Fishing Alliance Board Member Pam Anderson, who runs Capt. Anderson’s Marina with her family.

Southerland’s proposal also would prohibit the secretaries of commerce and the interior from restricting public use of a designated monument until there has been a review period allowing for public input and congressional approval.

If the president were to create a similar monument in the Gulf of Mexico — Obama has not mentioned any such plans publicly — it would be like turning the farms of southern Georgia into golf courses, said Eugene Raffield, Southeastern Fisheries Association regional director.

“We don’t need a dictator to just come in and say, ‘We’re going to rope this off,’ “ Raffield said. “You’ve got to have production. These are productive waters, and when you take that away, you never get it back.”

Southerland said the bill has the support of fishing interests locally and on the West Coast, where the president’s plan would affect recreational and commercial fishing interests, and he believes the bill has a good chance of success.

“We think that this is going to gain a lot of traction,” he said.

Panama City Mayor Greg Brudnicki spoke Monday about the slow creep of federal regulation over his 50 years fishing the Gulf. He echoed the sentiments of Southerland and others when he said the people of BayCounty know what’s best for them, and the interference from afar is unwelcome.

“We have done a very, very good job on local, county and state level to regulate ourselves, and to have the ability for someone possibly from Washington to come in at this time and say and do something that doesn’t know the difference between a mullet and a skipjack just really doesn’t make sense,” Brudnicki said.

Southerland’s press conference played well with Austin Golden, a local commercial fisherman. He said he’s been hurt by federal regulations in his seven years operating his vessel, “Sasquatch,” out of the St. Andrews Marina, where Southerland held his press conference, and he thanked Southerland afterward.

Southerland didn’t mention Gwen Graham, who will challenge him in November, but the Florida Democratic Party called the press conference a “fish and pony show” designed to distract voters from his “record of do-nothing, self-interested Washington politics.”

“No election year press conference can change the fact that Congressman Steve Southerland’s do nothing, self-interested D.C. politics are exactly what North Floridians hate about Congress,” Florida Democratic Party spokesman Max Steele said in a prepared statement.

NOTE: Clicking on hashtags in this stream may result in seeing adult material, such as photos or foul language, that appear elsewhere on Twitter. We do not endorse such material, but we do not have control over what items can be found in hashtag searches.